As a supplement to my recent blog “Best of 2008,” here is a brief listing of other important recent publications in biblical studies of which the readers of this blog will want to be aware.
The Baker Exegetical Commentary Series is rapidly filling out, with new volumes on Mark (Robert Stein), Jude & 2 Peter (Gene Green), and 1–3 John (Robert Yarbrough). Each of these volumes continues to maintain the high standard set by previous volumes in the series (with the possible exception of John; the reader will have to judge). Also from Baker is an important volume edited by Markus Bockmuehl and Alan Torrance, Scripture’s Doctrine and Theology’s Bible, with contributions by N. T. Wright, Oliver O’Donovan, and others.
Three important recent contributions published by Zondervan are Lee Fields, Hebrew for the Rest of Us: Using Hebrew Tools without Mastering Biblical Hebrew; Constantine Campbell, Basics of Verbal Aspect in Biblical Greek; and Three Views on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament (Walter Kaiser, Darrell Bock, and Peter Enns). Hebrew for the Rest of Us looks to be a very helpful tool; Campbell’s book seems to bring a very important, but complex, topic down to the level of the serious Bible student; and the latest book in the Three Views series received an enthusiastic response at the recent ETS meeting at which a session was devoted to the volume.
Two recent contributions are parts of fairly new promising series. The first is John Harvey’s Anointed with the Spirit and Power: The Holy Spirit’s Empowering Presence (P & R), the second volume in the Explorations in Biblical Theology series edited by Robert Peterson, a solid survey of an important subject. The second is Christopher Bass’s That You May Know: Assurance of Salvation in 1 John (B & H) in the NAC Studies in Bible & Theology edited by Ray Clendenen. Both of these new series are welcomed, and we can look forward to forthcoming volumes.
Tom Thatcher has turned into one of the most prolific editors of works in Johannine studies. Two volumes edited by him appeared this year: Anatomies of Narrative Criticism: The Past, Present, and Futures of the Fourth Gospel as literature (co-edited by Stephen Moore; SBL), with contributions by Alan Culpepper, Robert Kysar, Mark Stibbe, and Francis Moloney; and Jesus, the Voice, and the Text: Beyond the Oral and the Written Gospel (Baylor University Press), seeking to carry further the seminal work by Werner Kelber (interviewed by the editor).
Finally, among the important recent works on biblical studies published in recent months are two new books by Greg Beale: We Become What We Worship: A Biblical Theology of Idolatry (InterVarsity) and The Erosion of Inerrancy in Evangelicalism: Responding to New Challenges to Biblical Authority (Crossway). Beale also delivered an address on the second topic at the recent ETS meeting in Providence, RI. The Crossway volume carries on Beale’s interaction with Peter Enns. InterVarsity also published The Lord’s Supper: Five Views (edited by Gordon Smith).
This should keep the readers of this blog busy for the Christmas break. Happy reading, and Merry Christmas!
Great list of books. I just wanted to mention as well that I have been going through your book on God, Marriage, and Family. I really think it is a wonderful book on the family and marriage. Your approach towards a holistic picture on those topics goes so far beyond the idea of how to improve your marriage.
Martin Lloyd Jones has this moment in a book where he talks about answering questions indirectly (with the bigger picture in mind) at first versus answering questions directly and being left with simple answers that are incomplete. I believe your book hits the question of marriage and family from the big picture and moves towards the more direct with great intelligence. Thank you for your efforts.